1.1 The Sociological Perspective Perspective: A particular point of view. Sociology: The scientific study of social structure. Social Structure: The patterned interaction of people in social relationships. Sociological Perspective: A view that looks at behavior of groups, not individuals. Babies are usually brighter and better looking to their parents than they are to others. Newlyweds nearly always find their spouses much more attractive than do their friends. Sociological Perspective never focuses on the individual. They always look at anything through the group level. They will explain things in the same manner. How do you explain these: 1.) Someone who can’t find a job is __________. 2.) Homelessness is a result of _____________. 3.) Immigrants come here because of ___________. Wages, lack of jobs, poor school OR ability, talent, lifestyle choices. How might different groups view a shoe? Sociology and Psychology and Economics related. Look at scarcity: how do societies decide who control scare products?

How would a Sociologist explain these: Sociologists attempt to explain things relying on social factors rather than personal factors. How would a Sociologist explain these: Why does a young man join a gang? Why does someone commit suicide? Sociologists concentrate on categories of people. Prove his toughness, taught by society to prove their toughness Escape depression caused be peers expectations to be attractive, good grades, top college.

How do group behavior and individual behavior differ? Why do people conform? Can behavior within a group be predicted simply from knowledge about its individual members? Sociological Imagination: The ability to see the link between society and the self. Sociological Imagination challenges ideas people assume are true to allow us to more fully understand. Act differently when we are alone than when we are with a group. Why conform? We’ve been taught to value the groups ways. Teen smoking many times is for acceptance. How has American society viewed childless and one child marriages historically? Selfish, children are spoiled. With sociological imagination we are better informed to explain why things happen and therefore can ultimately make better decisions. Town of truth: most like us in appearance and behavior.